MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Wednesday, May 14, 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Tuesday, May 13): BRATISLAVA - The European Commission (EC) is expected on Tuesday to approve a revision of the recovery plan via which Slovakia aims to reallocate unused funds, mainly directing them towards improving public services such as health care, the construction of social service homes and the development of nursery and primary schools, TASR has learnt from Vice-premier for the Recovery and Resilience Plan Peter Kmec (Voice-SD). "I can announce that the European Commission is expected to approve a revision of the recovery plan today via which Slovakia is seeking to reallocate certain funds that it can't use in other segments. These funds will be additionally directed towards improving public services, particularly in health care, in the form of further hospital development, as well as the construction of more social service homes and nursery or primary schools," explained Kmec. BANSKA BYSTRICA - As of July 1, Slovakia's Health Ministry will launch the pilot phase of a new list of medical procedures for the first five specialisations, including neurology, internal medicine, geriatrics, pneumology and dermatovenereology, allocating €5 million to the project, stated Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) at a press conference in Banska Bystrica on Tuesday. "The aim is to assess the actual complexity of medical procedures, such as their duration, difficulty and who performs them," explained Sasko, adding that the new catalogue of procedures should, in the future, primarily lead to improved access to health care in the regions and reduced waiting times. The selection of outpatient providers that will be included in the pilot project will be the responsibility of health-insurance companies. The project will last six months, during which the Health Ministry aims to gain a realistic picture of individual procedures in the selected specialisations. This will be followed by a three-month analytical phase. BRATISLAVA - At the end of April the Office for Combating Organised Crime suspended the criminal investigation into the leak of the medical records of Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) following last year's assassination attempt on him, Ivan Vozar, spokesperson for the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Banska Bystrica, confirmed for TASR on Tuesday. "The investigator in the given criminal case suspended the proceedings on April 28, 2025 because it wasn't possible to determine facts justifying a prosecution against a specific person," stated Vozar. BRATISLAVA - Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) has called for a meeting of Slovakia's Security Council in response to what he sees as a rise in hate speech and physical conflict and the high likelihood of another attack on a public official, TASR has learnt from Fico's letter addressed to party leaders and four television channels, in which he also proposed moving political TV debates from Sundays to weekdays. "It's unacceptable for a legitimate opposing opinion to be met not with arguments, but with boundless insults and threats of death or bodily harm. Even more unacceptable is the fact that this form of political communication is becoming acceptable and even supported by a significant part of the Slovak political spectrum and the media," he stated in a letter, the content of which he published on social media. BRATISLAVA - The Interior Ministry will not purchase headwear from a company called Rempo, it's terminating the contracts, and it will file a criminal complaint, TASR learnt from the ministry's press department on Tuesday. The ministry stressed that it hadn't purchased a single piece of headgear under the framework contracts. Last week, it also launched an internal audit to compare item prices with those of other contracting authorities. "Although we don't yet have the results of the audit, we've decided, in the interests of maximum transparency, to file a criminal complaint against an unknown perpetrator so that the law-enforcement authorities can investigate any possible misconduct by Interior Ministry staff or the supplier. At the same time, we'll request that the Public Procurement Office should review this procurement," the minister declared. BRATISLAVA - Vietnam, one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia and the world, offers opportunities for the development of trade cooperation with Slovakia and the entire EU, the Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Ministry press department stated following a meeting between Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) and Vietnamese Ambassador to Slovakia Pham Truong Giang on Tuesday. “In terms of trade, Vietnam is our third most important partner in Asia, and Slovakia is the second-largest trading partner of Vietnam in Central and Eastern Europe. We therefore discussed specific ways to make use of these significant investment and economic opportunities,” said Blanar, adding that both countries are interested in restarting preparations for the third session of the Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation, which is expected to take place this year in Vietnam. BUDAPEST - Relations between Slovakia and Hungary are excellent at the level of governments, parliaments and in all areas of mutual cooperation, House Chair Richard Rasi stated in Budapest on Tuesday after meeting his Hungarian counterpart Laszlo Kover, the special TASR correspondent stationed in Budapest has reported. According to Rasi, the most tangible results of Slovak-Hungarian cooperation are the roads and bridges connecting the two countries. "Many of them have been built thanks to cross-border cooperation projects. In the past 15 years, nearly 20 new connections have been created between Slovakia and Hungary," he specified. "That we have a lot in common and help each other is also proven by Hungary's assistance in transporting natural gas to Slovakia. We also thank Hungary for helping to protect our airspace, while conversely, the commander of NATO's multinational forces in Hungary is a Slovak general," said Rasi. lin